THE CHALLENGES WE FACE
In his 2020 film, A Life on Our Planet, 93-year-old Sir David Attenborough reflects on his first-hand account of humanity’s impact on nature
Humanity, he says, has sought to tame nature – only to the detriment of our safety, health and happiness.
Feeding a planet of over eight billion people before the end of this decade presents a challenge with no clear – or easy – answers
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE
Raising animals for food is one of the major causes of the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity - United Nations
UNSUSTAINABLE LAND USE
Raising livestock for food requires about 80% of the world’s agricultural land yet produces less than 18% of the world’s calories
10 BILLION PEOPLE BY 2050
Without radical change, we will be unable to sustainably feed a global population of 10 billion by 2050
HUMAN HEALTH
The high consumption of both conventional and processed meat has been linked to the alarming levels of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer
THE EARLY RESPONSE
Due to increasing consumer consciousness about the impacts of their food choices on human health, the environment and animal welfare, we are witnessing an explosion in the availability and variety of plant-based meat options
A growing body of research predicts global expenditure on plant-based meats to reach up to US$140 billion by 2029 or 10 percent of the $1.4 trillion global meat market
With a commitment from innovators, manufacturers and consumers, we believe that sustainable and nutritious options can contribute to feeding the global population into the future
PROGRESS OF PLANT-BASED MEAT
CELL BASED
Cultured meat, continues to grow steadily with technology and with end products still in their infancy. There remains significant challenges with cost, scalability and consumer acceptance
FERMENTATION
Significant growth in biomass fermentation is providing some primary ingredients for meat analogues. Precision fermentation has largely focused on functional or sensory ingredients for other meat alternatives
FORMULATED BLENDS
Currently, most meat alternatives are highly processed formulations with a long list of ingredients from a dozen or more sources. Many of these are focused on the fast-food sector
YET – CONCERNS REMAIN
LIMITED HEALTH BENEFITS
Most of today’s plant-based meat alternatives offer little or no advantage nutritionally to overall health and wellbeing
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
While using significantly less land for production, many existing plant-based meat alternatives still require ingredients that draw heavily on the environment, especially our precious water resources
LEVEL OF PROCESSING
Currently, most plant-based meat alternatives include around 20 processed ingredients such as protein isolates, extracted fats, fibre, starch and refined sugars. During manufacturing, these formulations then require further extensive processing
TIME TO RE-THINK
Collectively, we need to pause and ask if we believe the best answers will come from the laboratory or from nature
